A medical professional walks outside Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin.
Roughly nine months into the pandemic, Austin is seeing its highest number of active COVID-19 infections ahead of the holidays, and health officials are begging residents to limit contact to battle back the virus' spread.
Austin Public Health attributes the rise in cases largely to gatherings over Thanksgiving. Forecasts suggest that if left unchecked, the spread could lead to a "real disaster" that could cripple Austin's hospital capacity.
"Right now we are at a place where we have more active infections in our community than at any other point in time in this pandemic," Austin Public Health's interim Medical Director Dr. Mark Escott said Wednesday.